Sucker rod guide



July 8, 1941. 115 P K 2,248,894

SUCKER ROD GUIDE- Q V Filed Nov. 27, 1939- 7 r m. 7. I 7 I lmml 1 W q if; F? .2?

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" 'll/III Patented July 8, 1941 Y t t I of the extreme shocks and vibrations to-which n the a pany n draw n are shown more the guides are subjected it has been found very 30 or less diagrammatically two examples f pedifllcult to attach them so they will stay put, cific embodiments of apparatus within the pur- Varlous complicated attachment means have. view of the invention. In the drawingbeen suggested but such of these as have been Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of one form of the tried at all have not proved successful; they rod guide installed onasucker rod,

loosen in a short time. Probably the most prac- 35 i 2 is a p an view corresponding to Fig. 1,

tical form so far developed consists of two half- Fig. 3 is a sectional viewtaken along e sleeves screwed together on the rod but even f i p with this form, no matter how tightly the screws 4 s a sectional vi w tak a on line 4-6 i middle of the rod.

' of simple two-piece construction which can be the sleeve can be slipped on th rod sideways."

' UNITED. STATES- PATENT OFFICE H I I svcxlzi t cfzzumiz N p t 7 Oil Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania I Application November 27,1939. Serial No. 306,399 4 Claims. Y (cl. sue-4) This invention or discovery relates to sucker comprising a slotted sleeve and a U-bolt arranged rod guides; and it comprises a guide for sucker to be drawn tightly against the, rod and presentrods in tubing, including a U-bolt. a guide meming a flush outer surface without obstructions; ber of such cross section as to loosely fit the and the provision of a guide with U-bolt fastentirbing, vertically slotted so as to be slipped sideing means in which the fastening means are ways on' the rod, said member having two bores completely protected from contact with the extending therethrough substantially tangent to tubing. 1 the rod and arranged to receive the U-bolt, said These and other objects are achieved by the member further being recessed to receive the U- provision of a guide including a massive sleeve, bolt whereby to protect theu-bolt from rub- 10 generally of cylindrical contour and slotted bing contact with the tubing and nuts engaging lengthwise so that it can be slipped on a sucker the U-bolt ends for drawing the guide member rod. The sleeve is bored and channeled to retightly against the rod; all as more fully hereceive a U-bolt,- the bend of which encircles the inafter set forth and as claimed. rod and the legs of which terminate in flanged In oil well pumping, a pump is located near recesses in the sleeve. The U-bolt is drawn tight the bottom of the well with a string of tubing by nuts in the recesses, the arrangement being extending therefrom up to the surface. The such that no part of the U-bolt protrudes beyond pump is reciprocated from the surface by a string .the sleeve. By virtue of the very small area of of steel sucker rods threadedly coupled together. contact of the U-bolt with the rod, and the high The string may be several thousand feet long. straining o e which n be applied tW3 the nuts. The well is rarely perfectly straight or perfectly the guide is screwed very tightly to the rod. As

against the tubing at one or more points. This that the guide, properly applied to the rod, reis disadvantageous not only because of friction sists dislodgement even under extreme conditions losses but also because of liability of breakage. '25' of shocks and vibration. The slot affords free Accordingly it is usual to fit the rods, or some passa e for il, and the smoothexterior'of the of them, with guides: enlarged members which sleeve affords a minimum of frictional resistance hold the rods away from the tubing. Because 5 with the tubing.

are drawn up the guide loosens in a short time. o Fig. 3, and Some proposals have been made in which no 40 Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a modified form attempt is made to fasten the guides rigidly to of guide- A the rod, the guide sliding freely on the rod be Re e to the d aw n and more particu- 1 tween the rod couplings. However such forms rly o i 1 o 4, the guide is shown installed not gnly wear t rgdunduly t in using t on a pump sucker rod it of ordinary. circular the fact is disregarded that rod guides s rv cross-section, operating in awell tubing II. The their function best when firmly attached t th guide includes asleeve member I2 ofrather mas- J sive, symmetrical construction, the body portion One object of the invention is the provision of 43 which is y r cal with two frustoconical. a rod guide for attachment to the middle or ends and IS. The sleeve'member has a U- other part'of the rod which will stay tight even shapedvslot With Walls 16 nd I7 slightly flaring under extreme vibrating and shock stresses; outwardly as shown and a circular bottom '18 other objects include the provision of a rod guide corresponding closely to the rod d t so t slipped on a rod sideways and drawn up perma- The edges of the slot are rounded at is, The nently and tightly; the provision of a rod guide sleeve member has two channels or groove 20 .parafiln on the tubing walls.

v sion. The U-bolt and nuts are best made of I and 2| in the faces of walls i8 and I1, arranged for reception of a U-bolt 22. the ends of which protrude through bores 23 and 24 in the sleeve member, these bores being prolongations of the channels. The sleeve member is oylindrically recessed at 25 and 26 for reception of nuts 21 on the ends of the U-bolt. Lock washers 28 are interposed between the nuts and flange portions 29 and 30 of the sleeve. Recesses 25 and 26 are deep enough so that the nuts and the U -bolt ends lie belowthe surface of the sleeve member and are effectively protected against contact with the tubing. Recesses 25 and 26 are also large enough to admit a socket wrench for tightening the nuts.

The inner circular portion of the U-bolt is advantageously flattened as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so as to avoid excessive localized strains.

To install the guide-the sleeve member is applied to the rod and the U-bolt inserted and drawn up tightly. By virtue of the small contact area of the U-bolt, the contact pressure is I recessed very high and dislodgement of the guide is obviated. But should the guide become loosened forany reason, as by failure of the U-bolt, by virtue of its shape it cannot come oil the rod and fall down the well; nor can it jam the rod-by cooking or wedging sideways. The U-bolt is under tension load only; the guide member is under compression load only.

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the apparatus, adapted for use in wells which tend to deposit The sleeve member H2 is made like that of Fig. 1 except that in lieu of providing an upper tapered portion, the body member l3 terminates in 39 the edge of which scrapes paraffin on the upstroke.

The sleeve member is advantageously embodied in steel or bronze and may be a casting, or a turning, or a turned casting. If made of bronze or other metal dissimilar to the metal of the rods it is best to provide a coating of asphaltic paint or other insulation (not shown) between the guide and the rod, to prevent electrolytic corrohigh-tensile steel.

The guide has been described in connection with round sucker rods, the ordinary'form. The guide is of course equally well adapted for application to rods of other cross-sections.

What I claim is:

l. A guide for sucker rods in tubing and adapted for rigid attachment to a rod at a point a sharp-edged flat face intermediate the ends thereof, comprising a U- bolt encircling one side of the rod and flattened on the inside of the bend thereof, a detachable guide member partly encircling the rod and bored to receive the U-bolt legs, and separate nuts engaging each U-bolt leg for drawing the U-bolt tightly against the rod, the guide member being constructed and arranged to project radially beyond the U-bolt legs and nuts to protect the U- bolt from rubbing contact with the tubing.

. 2. A guide for sucker rods in tubing comprising in combination a sleeve guide member vertically slotted to receive a sucker rod in substantially symmetrical relation thereto and recessed on the side opposite the slot, a U-shaped clamping member inset in the sleeve member, engaging the exposed side of the rod and terminating within the sleeve member, and separate clamping means lyingwholly within the recessed sleeve member and engaging the legs of the U-shaped clamping member, for straining the U-shaped clamping member against the rod.

3. A sucker rod guide comprising a substantially cylindrical body member having a vertical radial slot in one side thereof extending from the periphery past the central axis of the body member so as to permit placing the body member symmetrically on the rod, the body member having two bores extending transversely therethrough, a U-shaped bolt having a. flattened bend portion engaging the rod over a substantial area. for frictional engagement with the rod, the legs of the bolt extending through the bores and terminating below the periphery of the body member, and threaded clamping means disposed below the periphery of the body member and firmly engaging the-legs of the bolt.

4. A guide for sucker rods in tubing comprising a thick metal guiding sleeve member of horizontal cross-section smaller than the tubing and provided with a vertical rod-receiving slot, whereby the sleeve member is adapted to be slipped sideways on a rod' bores in the sleeve member tangential to the rod, a U-bolt surrounding the rod, the

TRACY S. PARK. 

